A Different Kind of Hellmouth
by Maria13
Summary: Buffy and Faith find out what Sunnydale could have been like had events been different, when they wind up in the alternate Sunnyhell. Things are going to get shaken up. Chapter 4 repost is up.
1. Disappearing Act

Disclaimer - **Buffy the Vampire Slayer does not belong to me, nor does Angel.**

Authors Note: I would like to thank my new beta Aithril, you've done wonders sorting out the errors in the chapter, and making it sound better!

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**A Different Kind of Hellmouth**

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_Los Angeles_

The lights in the cellblock flickered out, plunging the row into complete darkness. Almost immediately surprised voices called out, asking what was going on. Some sounded annoyed while others cheered, glad at the apparently early lights out. It was still early, and that wasn't supposed to happen for another three hours.

Peering through the bars of the window, some of the inmates saw the cells on the block opposite to them were unaffected. A guard came down, telling them that the problem would be sorted out soon. Faith sat at the foot of the bed with her back against the wall. The bulbs had flickered on and off periodically for the last hour or so, and she figured it was something to do with the electricity. There was nothing to worry about whatsoever.

It could not have been more than five minutes later when the block was engulfed in a hazy blue light that slowly grew brighter and bigger. It moved along the row, and woman of various ages pressed their faces close to the bar to try and see where it was going; they were struck between curiosity, fear, and awe. This certainly beat staring at the wall or rereading a book until they could get another.

The light was oval in shape, and it moved in a straight line, stopping every few seconds as if searching for something. It almost seemed like an intelligent entity. Needless to say, Faith was just as interested as the rest of the women. Only she however had a sneaking feeling that this wasn't your everyday freaky unexplainable occurrence. Somewhere down the hall, one of the inmates mimicked the X-Files theme tune. The guards approached the light cautiously; it either didn't notice or did not deem them to be a threat because it continued forward in its steady pace.

Faith stood, walked a few steps, and came to a stop at the bars and eyed the light; it halted too, a few feet from her. Abruptly, it disappeared. And then something else came back in its place. This was an unmistakable portal, for it swirled round and round like a whirlpool, it was actually rather hypnotizing.

Faith moved back step by step but knew that if this thing was here for her, it wasn't likely to leave without her. She was correct in that assumption, and the portal grew larger as it got closer. The bars creaked and groaned and bent outward as the powerful force drew it inward. The bars were sucked inside the portal, and seconds later Faith pulled in the same direction. She and it disappeared, leaving no trace of the portal's presence other than the missing bars of the cell. There was a long moment of silence, and then panic ensued.

_Sunnydale_

It had been another uneventful night for Buffy; she strolled along the damp grass of the park with Willow alongside her. They were getting to the stage where they wanted to call it a night. Streetlamps guided their way as they left the park to walk toward the houses nearby; everything was perfectly quiet, so much so that if a demon even breathed, the two friends would hear it. The complete lack of activity had been around for the last four days; either evil was taking a holiday, or they were cooking up some huge plan. Buffy kind of hoped it was the former; it would be nice to have a few nights off.

But it appeared even that was too much to ask for.

The Slayer and Witch heard rather than saw the thing that came towards them. A streetlamp crunched as though some force was dragging it from its place in the cement and dragging it along the path. Buffy and Willow spun around, the noise was deafeningly loud in the area that had been so silent a few seconds earlier. A new stake was clutched firmly in her hand; her hand slackened when she saw the portal.

"Uh, Buffy…I don't think a stake is gonna help here," Willow pointed out in a voice that was a cross between amazed and afraid.

They both began to move backward wanting to leave but fascinated enough to want to stay and see what would happen next. The portal stopped and began to swell in size. Buffy took Willow's arm and moved her backward before ordering "run!" She didn't need to be asked twice. Buffy decided to take her own advice seconds later but was, unfortunately for her, too late. She felt herself being sucked into the portal inch by inch and grabbed a streetlamp that had escaped its earlier devastation. Her grip was shaken, however, and as she slipped, she realised it didn't matter anyway; the pole had come loose from the pavement.

Willow spun around, but before she could even shout out for her friend, Buffy was gone. So too was the portal. Across the road a dog started barking as its owner shuffled to the door, furious with the extra loud disturbance. Willow was not in an explaining mood; she took off at a run through the park before the homeowner could step outside.

_Sunnyhell_

A group of garbage cans was not the best landing spot. Nevertheless, that was precisely the place where the portal decided to spit Faith out. She pushed a can away from her in annoyance, and it clattered to the floor before rolling across the alley to stop against the opposite wall. Not only was she wearing a less than appealing orange prison issued clothes, she also stunk of whatever was in the cans too. This was definitely not how she had envisioned her first day of freedom. Actually, it was her first night; grey clouds covered the moon, and there were no other lights to help her see. She was assuming she was still in Sunnydale; but when a portal pops out of nowhere, picks you up and throws you out, nothing was a certainty.

Faith brushed herself off and immediately set about assessing her current situation. It was night now, and the immediate area was void of any other life, but come dawn, people would begin filtering out of their homes to start the new day. People would easily spot her, and she was not planning on skulking through the shadows now that she had her unexpected, but welcomed, freedom. Finding new clothes was first on her agenda. Second…she would make it up as she went along.

As she stepped out of the alley and onto the main street, she had no difficulty in recognizing where she was. It was Sunnydale all right. She recognised the street, the shops…or at least she thought she did. The place looked the same, but she didn't remember the walls of the Espresso Pump being covered in graffiti, nor shop windows being broken. Faith walked towards one of the shops and peered inside. She definitely didn't recall demons sitting around civilian establishments smoking and laughing at the caged owner either.

* * *

If Faith's landing was bad, then Buffy's was downright awful and cold. The blonde pulled herself onto the safety of the docks. Being chucked from a dizzying portal into icy waters was not a good way to spend the night. The air was already cool, and now she shivered as she wrung water out of her clothes and hair. She shook her head and droplets went flying. Thinking was a good way to block out the cold, but so was walking and that would get her places. Buffy was at Sunnydale docks, or at least she knew that much. But it seemed pointless to get sucked into the portal only to be brought a couple of miles from her last location. Maybe it was some kind of trickster demon. She rather hoped it was; pounding him for messing her around would be funny. 

She set off in the direction of her home, intent on phoning Willow and easing her probable panic at the little disappearing act. But true top Sunnydale form; a scream broke her attention before she could take more than a couple of steps. Buffy raced toward the ongoing cry for help and wasted no time in identifying and dusting a vampire. The screamer was a kid of around thirteen; she held a full to the brim rucksack in her grasp. It looked like someone was skipping town. Instead of the gratitude that Buffy expected, the girl gaped at her in horror before shouting, "Are you stupid or something? You don't go around killing vampires! Now the whole pack will come here!" Before the slayer could get a word in, the girl had fled across the docks.

"She's right, you know," a familiar voice spoke out from the darkness in a smug voice. "The whole pack will come here, luckily for me I got here first so that means I get first taste." Cordelia sauntered out with a grin on her face.

"You've got to be kidding me," Buffy answered in disbelief. She wasn't sure whether to laugh that a newly vamped Cordelia was planning on taking her on, or be sad that she had been turned. Buffy moved smoothly into a fighting stance and eyed Cordelia carefully. The once popular - now creature of the night circled her with a hungry look. It registered in Buffy's mind that Cordelia did not look like your average new vampire. In fact she looked very much at home being a member of the undead. For the first time since arriving Buffy suddenly realised this might not be the Sunnydale she knew.

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	2. Not in Kansas Anymore

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Chapter Two

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_Sunnydale _

Xander did not expect to be woken at 1 AM, so Willow was pretty understanding when her groggy and half asleep friend answered the door, invited her in quite grumpily, and then had to have the situation explained to him a couple of times before he got the general gist of it. It did not help matters at all that she told him in a complete rush that was part babble and part explanation. He jumped up off the couch that he had deposited his weary and half clothed body on and made for the door whilst telling Willow that they should get to Giles.

"Xander…while Giles will probably appreciate us getting to him as fast as possible, or maybe not 'cause it's really early in the morning… I think he'd want you to get changed first," Willow told him a little embarrassedly.

He looked at himself in the mirror on the wall nearby and realised his near naked state. "Oh" he said to himself half sheepishly. "Good point! I'll be right back," Xander hurried off into the bedroom.

Willow tried not to listen in on the immediate conversation that arose between Xander and Anya; someone else didn't appreciate being woken up before the sun either. "Ooh, did she say what kind of portal it was? Or what it looked like?" the ex-demon asked once she was a little more awake and a lot less annoyed.

"No, Anya, I was a little bit more interested in the fact that Buffy disappeared than asking Willow about all the pretty colours." Xander replied as he slipped into a pair of pants that had been chucked on the floor a few hours earlier.

Anya got up off the bed and started getting dressed. Xander paused and looked at her, silently asking 'you're coming?' She shrugged whilst replying "What? I want to know what's going on as much as you do. I could be helpful." While in actuality she was just being a little nosy, Anya did not want to miss out on the action. Besides, with Giles preoccupied with Buffy's disappearance, that would leave the Magic Shop all to her. "Anyway, you're all panicky, and I can calm you down. Really, this might be nothing, and Buffy will suddenly pop out of nowhere. Spontaneous appearances have happened many times before…of course, those times there was usually the loss of a limb when the missing person did return, or sometimes a finger, but one time there was a head. Though on that occasion, the person died --."

"Wow, really? I would've thought he'd have been wide awake," Xander responded sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.

"Fine, be that way, but I'll have you know it is quite possible for some species of demon to exist for a short period of time without their head. If they get it back within a certain period, they'll live. If that person hadn't been half human, he would have survived," Anya reeled off the facts as though she had been present at the time, when in actual fact she had heard that bit of information from the friend of a friend of an enemy.

"You're really not helping," Xander pointed out. He shrugged on his jacket as his girlfriend slipped on a blue shirt that was actually his. Hers was somewhere around, but seeing as Xander was in a rush there was no time to find it. They both headed out of the bedroom at the same time; a few minutes later, the three friends were in his car and speeding through the streets to Giles' house.

_Sunnyhell _

The demons had not noticed Faith; too intent were they on teasing and prodding their terrified human victim. She was torn between walking away and helping the poor guy. On one hand, she ought to mind her own business, and besides, she had problems of her own to deal with. On the other hand, something inside her insisted she go about her slayer duties and win some justice.

She had been in the prison for a year and half; she didn't want to jeopardise her newfound freedom by potentially getting killed five minutes after her escape. She sat crouched in front of the heavily dirt stained window and surveyed the room, pondering the situation. Being cooped up in a cell wasn't the best training area, and with the rule of not being able to pound the other inmates, she had not fought an actual opponent for a long time. Not that she doubted she'd still be able to hold her own against the bad guys, of course. Faith just didn't want to rush in there with six demons if she was a little rusty.

Faith made her decision quickly. Who was she kidding? She couldn't wait to get in there and teach the demons a thing or two. And if a vampire with a soul could atone for past mistakes then she could too. Her death toll was a whole lot lower for that matter.

When the door slammed back on its hinges and fell to the dusty floor, the demons jumped to their feet and were struck still as statues in their confusion. It looked as though they hadn't had to really fight potential food before. The slayer stood there, waiting expectantly. "Come on, what are you waiting for? Or are you weak and scared as well as butt ugly?" she taunted.

If the sight of a human that wasn't afraid of them didn't get them moving, the insult certainly did. They charged at her. The room was narrow, so only two could get close to her at anyone time. It helped the odds a little bit.

Faith rammed the first red and horned demon's bulky head into the wall. She had thought the bulk was merely fat but as the thick flesh tore she saw it was bone. Hitting the thing's face was going to hurt her fist more than it hurt his head. It also didn't help the wall much. He pushed himself out of the concrete and left a gaping hole in his wake. One of his smaller green pals took off out the back door, leaving the odds 5-1. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Bulky Red drew his large fist back as she twisted the muscled arm of his smaller comrade. The little demon's arm snapped, and he let out a roar of pain and fury. Faith tossed him over the glass counter, and he landed on a faded carpet and shards of glass. She turned to once again take on bulky Red, just in time to greet his fist with her stomach. She flew backwards through the doorway and landed heavily on her back; at least there were no smelly garbage cans this time.

Being outside now gave her more options in relation to possible weapons; it also provided more space to fight. Unfortunately, that also aided the remaining four demons. They edged around her cautiously in a circle before closing in.

* * *

"I thought you were dead anyway…do slayers have nine lives as well as superior strength?" Cordelia asked conversationally. She had stopped walking around Buffy as though inspecting a prize horse, and now stood with her arms folded, looking just like a student asking questions of the teacher.

"I was dead?" Buffy asked, feigning stupidity. If this wasn't her Sunnydale, then she might as well get some answers about this place from a semi-reliable source. If there was one thing she could say about this Cordelia, it was that she was more dangerous than the human version, which meant she could not be taken lightly.

"Well duh," the vampire responded as though talking to an idiot that wasn't quite with the conversation. "When a person drowns and doesn't get medical attention, that's usually what happens. I always thought the Master would make you one of us anyway," Cordy added, more to herself.

Buffy was starting to get the general gist of what had happened. A chill ran through her as she remembered her time with the Master, the first big bad she had faced. "The Master is alive?" she asked in hushed tones.

"Yeah…I'd take you to meet him, but first you have to die," she told the Slayer cheerfully before advancing.

_If I died, that means Kendra is here… _Buffy processed that thought as she mechanically blocked a surprisingly good punch from Cordelia. It reminded her that the Kendra from her world was only dead because of Drusilla, and that made her mad. Although Cordelia wasn't that particular crazy vampire, she would make a good substitute. Buffy punched Cordelia in the jaw, the force knocking her backward against one of the many gigantic containers that littered the dockyard; she took her frustrations out on the once popular girl of Sunnydale High.

Buffy heard the sound of running feet, but she did not let that break her concentration. The cavalry had, unfortunately for her, finally arrived. She narrowly avoided falling flat on her back as Cordelia made an attempt to sweep her off her feet. There must have been six more vampires that came to watch the show; it only took them a couple seconds to decide they wanted to participate, and then ran toward Buffy as a single mass.

A crossbow bolt slammed into the heart of one, lingered in the air, and then dropped to the wet floor as she exploded in a cloud of brown dust. That effectively stopped the remaining vampires in their tracks. Fear appeared in their eyes; it was a reaction that Buffy had seen herself when a vampire that recognised her or had heard of her reputation had to take her on… only this time, they weren't looking at her.

"It's Kendra!" one of them hissed and readily contemplated turning back the way he had come, not caring if he looked like a coward to his companions.

"We can take her," another one immediately answered. "You think one Slayer and a bimbo can take us?" she demanded.

Cordelia was backing away toward the other vampires; Buffy ignored her and turned her attentions to the other female vampire. "Excuse me? Did you just call me a bimbo?" she asked indignantly. "You called me a bimbo? The vampire with a pasty complexion that thinks multicolored spiky hair is a good look for the undead?" Almost unconsciously, the female vamp touched her hair and glared at Buffy.

"Are we going to fight, or do you want to stand around here and talk the rest of the night?" Kendra strode towards them and let fly another bolt even as she walked. The second cloud of dust was the perfect thing to get the fight started again.

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Bulky Red, Faith decided, was definitely the boss. The remaining demons dropped back to let him come toward her, so she concentrated mostly on him. She ducked another punch that was, this time, aimed at her head. He was fighting out of anger now, whether it was because of his unconscious buddy or because he realised he had to fight his food and not just play with her. Whatever the reason, his punches came thick and fast, quickly putting her mostly on the defensive. Faith did not like that. When she fought a demon, she liked things to go her way -- he should be on the floor gasping for breath by now. She matched him hit for hit, and a smaller red demon began to close in; it seemed he was bored with the waiting.

"Not so talkative now, are you?" Bulky Red let out a deep laugh.

His arrogance was to be his downfall. Faith began to slow down, acting as though she were running out of steam and tiring. Bulky Red saw this as an opening; he thought the ending was near and saw her as a mere weakling. He left himself open to attack, believing he could block anything she threw at him. When the portal had thrown her out, the chewed up bars had come with her. Faith snatched one up and thrust it through his neck. The demon's eyes widened in shock, and he gargled as green blood dripped from his mouth. She pulled the bar free at the same time as he dropped to the floor, and it slid out of his thick flesh easily. "Who's laughing now?"

The other demons certainly weren't.

A screech of tires turned their heads. A white van sped toward them, and as it slowed down, a brown haired young man jumped out with an axe. "Hey, wolf boy," Faith greeted before turning her attention back to the other demons.

Oz abruptly looked at her, clearly startled. "How…?" he stopped; questions could wait.

The van had halted a few feet behind them, and now Faith felt a hand grab her hand. "Come on. Get in the van!" an unfamiliar voice urged.

Faith looked up at the taller young man. He held a sword and was anxiously watching the demons. "You, I don't know," she commented before shaking his hand off her arm. "Can you guys handle these?"

"What? Yes, but we have to go. Now!" the stranger announced and moved to grab her to pull her away.

"A word of advice here, friend, don't tell me what to do, and we'll get along fine." Another demon came toward them at a run. This one was short and stocky, green in colour, but no less bony. The difference was his long claws; he raised his right hand to sweep the deadly points across her face. She grabbed the sword, and bone and metal met in midair. This time it was surprisingly easy to overcome the demon -- the weapons won, and the claws clattered to the floor. Blood trickled out of the remaining short stumps, and the demon began gasping. Faith watched it in confusion; generally she didn't need to cut a demon's nails to kill it.

"Its veins run into the claws. Cut the claws, kill the beast," Oz explained in simple terms.

"Whatever." There was one demon left, and he was debating taking a run in a direction opposite to Faith. She decided Oz and the other guy could take care of the last one, and took of in the direction of the shop.

"We'll have to leave her!"

"We can't, Larry," Oz shot back. The whole reason for the Whitehats was to help people, and while the brunette wasn't really shouting for help, that didn't mean she should be left behind. "We need people on our side. I think she can probably help."

Faith still held the sword, and she used this to knock off the lock that kept the shopkeeper imprisoned. He was sat at the back, trying to make himself as small as possible. He shivered uncontrollably. "Hey, come on…you can come out," Faith tried to sound reassuring.

"No, no, no. You should not be here," he murmured half to himself. "Everything is out of balance, out of harmony." He rocked backward and forward, his long arms wrapped around his thin frame.

"In case you haven't noticed, demons are running around like they own the place; balance and harmony are the last things you should be worried about. Now you have to come out, okay?" Faith moved down onto her knees so that she was at eye level with the man. "I'm gonna give you my hand so I can pull you out of there -- just don't go crazy on me." She instructed before reaching her arm to pull the man out.

He shot up, his piercing grey eyes acknowledging her presence for the first time since her arrival. His flung an arm out, and his fingers gripped the sleeve of her uniform. "You should not be here! This is not your place!" Faith wrenched her arm from his surprisingly strong grasp. "Trouble, trouble, lots of trouble."

"Hey, I'm trying to do the whole atonement thing, but you're not making this real easy," Faith retorted. She grabbed him and yanked him out of the cage before standing again. "Now I saved you. You go someplace safe. My job is done." She turned to leave.

"I go too," the man told her and began to follow.

"No, you see, you said I was trouble. Usually people try and get away from trouble," Faith tried to dissuade the man.

Oz stood in the doorway with the axe, the blade smeared with the demon's green blood. "Everyone comes," he told her. Well, that was that. Faith didn't have anywhere else to go, and at least she recognised Oz, even if this one had no idea who she was. That wasn't such a bad thing considering the fact that the one she did know probably wouldn't want to help her, because she was supposed to be in prison.

Oz led the two of them back toward the van; they passed the decapitated last demon on the way. Faith looked around the area; there was still one out there. There was one more out there, the one that had fled. That would have to be another demon for another night.


	3. Introductions

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**Chapter Three**

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_Sunnyhell _

"So where are we headed?" Faith enquired. She, the old man, and Oz were sat in the back of the van. It was cluttered with weapons and books that Oz had said they'd been collecting when they ran into the demons that Faith was fighting. The old man had been silent since being taken to the van; he looked like he was taking a nap, no doubt something that had escaped him since his capture and imprisonment. Larry was driving, and Faith decided that this was going to be the last time she got into a vehicle with him. To her, it felt like he was aiming for every single pothole in the road, and every time the van dipped, the people within got tossed around.

"It's pretty much a rule that I can't tell you until it's been decided that we can trust you," Oz told her nonchalantly. "You know, it's not often that we run into someone that can handle themselves like you can. Who taught you how to fight?"

Faith shrugged. "It's pretty much a rule that I can't tell you," she parroted. Sure, Oz was cool back in Sunnydale, but here? She wasn't going to trust anyone just yet.

"Then I guess we've come to a standstill; I won't answer your questions, and you won't answer mine." He nodded complacently. Many people would probably be pissed at the lack of forthcoming information, but he just took it in stride. The way he saw it, she could probably kick his butt ten times over without breaking a sweat; he wasn't going to tell her anything important when she could just use it against him. That was why they were going straight to Giles; maybe he could give them both some answers. "I don't think it would be a big deal if we said who we were. I'm Oz," he introduced himself.

Faith hesitated before answering. It couldn't do any harm to give a name. "Faith."

"Okay…just one question, though?" He waited for her to indicate that that would be okay, and she nodded eventually. "Just why did you call me Wolf boy, exactly?"

Call it intuition, call it whatever you like, but she just knew that one was going to come back and bite her in the ass.

* * *

The vampires, those that weren't dust, had fled, but Kendra still remained alert, and this time her crossbow was trained on Buffy. "So are you going to tell me who you are, or do I have to guess?" Something about the other slayer's posture told Buffy that she would find answers, one way or another.

She had no reason to distrust her; she was overjoyed, though she didn't show it, to see a familiar – if not completely friendly at the moment -- face…apart from vampire Cordelia. "You don't know me, obviously, but you might have heard of me… I was here before you, I'm Buffy," the first Sunnydale slayer explained.

"I don't believe you," Kendra answered straightforwardly. "Buffy died. She can't come back from the dead."

_If only she knew…_Buffy didn't feel like going through how exactly that was possible, so she pressed on. "I know it sounds crazy but, come on, in this place, anything is possible. I'm not the Buffy from here…" She wasn't even sure what was going on herself, so explaining it was a little difficult. "You've heard of alternate realities, right? 'Cause I think that's what this is. I came from a different Sunnydale…"

Kendra looked extremely dubious. The Master had sent his minions to trick her before; she would not put it past him to try a scheme as ludicrous as this. "Say that I do believe you. Why are you here?" Still the crossbow had not lowered.

"I have no idea," Buffy shook her head. "I just ended up here a little while ago… Wait -- is Giles here? Is he your watcher? He'll be able to explain this, and he'll tell you I am who I say I am."

"Alright. But if you're lying --."

"I'm not, I swear," Now she was getting somewhere. Buffy smiled in relief before realising that she was still freezing cold. "By the way, do you have any clothes I can borrow?"

* * *

They were driving in the opposite direction to the library, so Faith wasn't completely sure they were even going to see Giles. It made sense though that they had taken up shop somewhere else, somewhere secret and secluded where they couldn't be found. For the last ten minutes, Larry still driving, there had been silence in the back. The old guy snored loudly, but didn't wake despite being tossed around like a sack of potatoes. She had dodged answering Oz's question and could tell that did not satisfy him. Until she found out what exactly was going on, however she was keeping a tight lid on things. Faith had an idea, but she wanted verification from someone who knew what they were talking about. "So what happened? Demons are running around like they own the place."

Oz didn't see anything wrong with this subject; if Faith was a spy sent to infiltrate the Whitehats ranks, she could not garner any important information by being told things she should already know. "When the Master rose, there was nothing anyone could do. The Slayer was killed, and in the weeks it took for the current Slayer to get here, the vamps and demons took control. There was panic…some people left before it got too bad, but most got killed or turned. Happy hour is at the Bronze every night, but it's called the Blood Bank now. We tried to burn the place down a couple of months ago, but it didn't work out…"

"What happened to Sunnydale High?" What had happened to all the students? From what Oz had told her, tiny brief facts, she had learnt that little bit more to substantiate her theory. Kendra must be the current Slayer, unlike in her reality; in this one, Buffy had failed in killing the Master. That meant she wasn't a Slayer in this world. Faith wondered if her other self had a life that different from hers, before she came to Sunnydale.

Oz interrupted her thoughts. "There are still classes, but there's a curfew now -- a lot of the students are either trapped at the Blood Bank or vampires. They're creating an army."

Larry shouted back at them from the driver's seat. "We're here!" He slammed the door shut and came around the back to let them out. The first shoots of light were coming through as the sun rose so Faith could see quite clearly now. They were at Sunnydale University; Larry had parked in front of one of the frat houses. It was a little too visible; as the Whitehats were known by the van they drove she would have thought the vehicle would be more hidden. Maybe it would be moved later. Faith recognised the building from her time when she was in Buffy's body; this was where Riley lived – or at least, he had done. Giles' new meeting place was at a frat house?

Oz gently woke the old man and helped him to his feet and out of the back of the van. The old guy rubbed his eyes tiredly; he wasn't quite ready to wake up yet. The four of them walked up the path and into the house, where they finally stopped in front of a mirror. It slid open to reveal an elevator… Faith was starting to get a sneaking feeling that this wasn't the simple meeting spot that the library had been. A mechanical female voice sounded in the elevator and told them to verify their presence, and Larry leaned forward to talk into the speaker. After that it took only seconds for the elevator to hit the sublevel that Oz and Larry wanted.

"When I told you about the Whitehats…" Oz started as the doors slid open. "I didn't exactly tell you everything."

Books littered huge bookcases along the walls, and in the centre were countless rows of desks, all piled with phones and computers. People hurried on past the four of them without so much as a sidelong glance in their direction; everyone, it seemed, had a job to do. There were scientists that compared notes nearby, and others in combat gear that sauntered past with grim, stern faces. "We couldn't exactly do everything on our own, so we joined up with the Initiative," Larry told her with a grin.

A cage had been set up for Oz, much like the one at the library, but with fewer books and more space. In a smaller case next to it were the weapons. Faith felt like a kid let loose in the candy store. A man hobbled forward on crutches to meet them, balancing a thick leather book under one arm. Faith barely recognised Giles; he looked haggard, but with the bad state of things on the outside, she didn't blame him. He looked to Oz for an explanation for her presence.

"Giles, this is Faith --."

"Oh my…you couldn't have come at a better time!" Giles looked very glad to see her, which confused Faith because he wasn't supposed to know her. "Oh! Of course you don't know me. I am Rupert Giles; I've been talking to your Watcher for the last few months. I was hoping she would send you to us," He was smiling broadly as he ushered her further into the great room. "I must say I'm surprised she didn't mention you coming on such short notice."

Faith stopped abruptly. It was kind of nice to be welcomed, but she wasn't who he thought she was…well, not exactly anyway. She started to set him straight. "Look, I'm not Faith – well, I am, just not the Faith that you think…" She saw that Giles was starting to get a worried look, the kind where he thought she was off her rocker.

"This is part of what you didn't tell me earlier, isn't it?" Oz enquired with a mildly amused expression on his face.

"I'm not from this world…I just got here an hour ago. In my world, I'm a Slayer, here I'm not…I'm guessing I'm still in training here, right?" At Giles' nod,) she continued. "So that means she's still alive, and Kakistos never killed her yet…"

A man who had been standing behind her, listening the whole while, decided it was time to ask some questions of his own. "So why exactly are you wearing that?" Doyle asked her in a thick Irish accent as he eyed her clothing.

"A portal busted me out of jail, and I didn't really have time to pack an overnight bag," Faith answered sarcastically.

Doyle chuckled at the attitude, and the answer, though he didn't believe her for a second. "Very funny. So tell me, if you're telling the truth, and you really aren't from this reality, what's your world like?"

Looking around at each of them in turn, she saw that they all wanted to know the same thing. She just wasn't sure how much to tell them. Hearing how much better some other place is than their own home could get pretty depressing. "It's better…it has its moments where everything goes to crap, but most of the time things are under control. Oz said that here the Master is in control; back in my world, B killed him and didn't die."

"B?" Doyle asked with a puzzled look.

"Buffy…well, technically she did die, for about a second, and then Xander saved her life. Because of that, there were two Slayers. Kendra was killed a few years ago, and here I am." Faith figured that would be a good time to stop.

"Buffy is alive in your world?" Giles questioned. He looked a little white, like he needed to sit down. He had felt so guilty after her death, the thought that his bad decisions may have killed her, had stuck in his mind.

"Yeah, she goes to you…the other you, all the time." H needed to hear that, or something along those lines. She stopped talking again. All that she had said already seemed to be enough for one day.

"Well, hey, maybe we can all compare notes sometime," Doyle suggested. "We need all the help we can get, though I don't think the tough guys will like you muscling in on their turf," he added with a laugh. The Initiative, though tolerant of them, hated it when the Whitehats brought in new people. They were going to hate another Slayer being round; they could only just stand that Kendra could knock them flat.

"Yes well, Doyle, if you could find Faith a place to stay?" Giles finally spoke up again. "We will have to talk again," he added with some enthusiasm. "I have a lot of questions for you. I'll try and find out why you may have been sent here." He was getting into research mode. "Oz, Larry, come with me."

The two remaining people watched the three others go. "Looks like it's just you and me, kid."

"And the old guy," Faith added. On that note, she turned around to speak with him and ask some questions of her own.

"What old guy?" Doyle followed her gaze. There was no one else there; the man had gone.

* * *

As soon as Kendra led Buffy to the university campus, she knew where they were going. She wasn't sure how she felt about going to the Initiative. Sure, they had about a dozen ways they could help her. Of course, she had to remember that they had been rather slippery in _her _world. Here, perhaps it was different; things were bad in Sunnyhell, so maybe the Initiative really were truly good. Buffy would make up her mind once she had snuck around a little bit. She and the other Slayer had not spoken much on their way to the university, though Buffy was bursting with questions. Kendra had told her at least that she would see Giles; she also found out that he led the Whitehats and had made first contact with the Initiative after finding out that they were in town.

Kendra was tight lipped about anything else. Buffy was fine with that, if a bit impatient, but she guessed Giles could tell her more anyway. She was somewhat reassured that Kendra seemed to trust her enough to lead her to their hideout – or maybe the other Slayer had something else up her sleeve.

When the elevator hit the sublevel and Buffy took her first steps into the secret underground base, she saw that things weren't really that different from her reality. There were many more books here, however, and she figured that they most likely belonged to Giles. Buffy stifled a giggle when she thought how much he must detest being around 'those dreaded machines'. Then again, maybe this Giles loved computers. After taking another look at the towering shelves of books, Buffy changed her mind.

"He'll be in his office," Kendra said, speaking her first words in the last half hour or so. "You said he would recognize you…"she continued as she pushed open the door to what Buffy assumed was the office. "You should know what to expect if I find out you are be lying. Once again, the crossbow took up its place in Kendra's hands.

Buffy sighed; Kendra was mostly the same as she had been in her world, if a little bit more hostile. Giles looked up as he heard the door swing open to reveal the two visitors. The thick tome that he had been holding open with one hand fluttered to a close as he let it go and stood, his mouth open and eyes wide, his skin paled and the Watcher looked as though he had just set eyes on a ghost. "Oh my God…it can't be," 'He came around the paper-cluttered desk to get a closer look at her, taking off his glasses to set them shakily on the table. "Buffy?"

She shifted a little uncomfortably from foot to foot; unsure of how to receive the man that was Giles, but not Giles. "Kind of," Buffy shrugged.

* * *

"You're crazy!" Doyle called across the empty road in a hushed whisper that sounded altogether too loud in the otherwise quite area. He watched Faith as she hurried to the other side where she then crouched in overgrown bushes by the roadside.

He didn't even know why he was following her. Wait… yes he did; if he didn't and something happened, it would be on his head. He and Faith had quickly asked around to find out if anyone had seen the old man wandering around the underground base, but they had no such luck. Then 'Faith had come to the reasonable conclusion that he must have left the building. Being right in front of the elevator they would have heard him leave that way so they had gone to the stairs, took a quick look around the upper level before walking out into daylight after finding nothing. They thought they caught sight of him hurrying off in the direction they were traveling now.

"Just because the sun is up doesn't mean the bad guys aren't running around. When the vamps disappear underground, the demons tend to come out to play. It's like an unspoken agreement…" He sprinted across the road to crouch down beside Faith.

He carried on talking, but wasn't even sure that she was listening to him; she was concentrating on the running figure a measurable distance away from them. She had discarded the bright orange prison garb for a pair of black jeans and a grey tee that Doyle had said the previous owner wouldn't mind her having, the previous owner being dead. The girl had been a Whitehat and had been killed during the attempted destruction of the Blood Bank.

"You see, the vamps occupy the night and do what they will while the demons come out during the day. They work for the same side, but they started to hate each other after the Master rose. The demons decided the vamps were getting a bit too big for their fangs so they had a little mini war going on. And then some tough guy came along wanting to be the new big bad. He started messing with the magic, and the Master tried to stop him…" Faith rose, only partially listening to Doyle; so far she had seen no one and thought her new companion was just a little bit too paranoid.

"So what happened?" Faith asked, humoring him a little bit.

"Oh, he carried on with the magic, but the Master and what's-his-name formed a shaky alliance. Word has it that the big bad is growing more powerful than the Master and pretty soon he's going to kill the big vamp all by himself."

Faith stopped suddenly, and the Irish half demon almost ran into her. "Why would a little old guy like him be going to a club?" The Slayer started off in the direction of the big building that loomed ahead of them but Doyle grabbed her arm to pull her back.

She was getting sick of people doing that.

"That isn't a club anymore. It's the Blood Bank -- the place is flooded with vampires," he warned.

Faith shook off his arm. "So what are we waiting for?" She started off towards the old Bronze. It might not be a club anymore, but that wasn't going to stop her from getting a party started.


	4. Good Time in a Bad Place

**Chapter Four**

* * *

_Sunnyhell _

"You're not serious!" Doyle waited, watching in disbelief and panic as Faith made her way along the dark, dank, and smelly alley to the Blood Bank. "Are you unhinged? Come on, rethink this!" he tried telling her in a persuasive tone. He quickened his pace until he was only a few steps ahead of her; he turned around and held out his hands to stop her from walking. The alley was wide though, so it was easy for her to slip past him.

"Do you have any idea how many vamps are in there?" Not waiting for her to answer, he pressed on. "There's a lot, more than even you can handle! If a single Slayer could take them all out, don't you think Kendra would have done that already?"

It was sweet, in an annoying kind of way, that he was worried. _On second thought, he's probably more worried about himself _she scoffed inwardly. "You don't have to come -- just go back to your little army buddies while the big girl sorts out the bad guys. I want to know why a regular old guy that's been locked up by demons wants to hang around the undead." That said, Faith continued onward. She would prefer being alone anyway as Doyle would just hold her back. He didn't understand that she needed this. After being under lock and key for so long she now had a chance to release some of that pent up energy. "I live for this, and I don't need you to act like a Watcher. I've been there already." The conversation was officially over. She ran off, ignoring Doyle's protests.

The half demon watched her go; he couldn't run after her because it would be a waste of time. He was going to need reinforcements. Hopefully someone else could knock some sense into her.

* * *

Giles understood this wasn't the exact same Slayer that he had trained for a year, but seeing this Buffy gave him some idea of how she might have turned out had things been different. It gave him relief that one version of himself had done right by the Slayer assigned to him. This girl seemed more self assured, confident, stronger, and perhaps a little wiser. He had no doubts that he would see more subtle changes as time progressed. "This is remarkable; please, sit down," He pointed to a chair which she gladly sank into.

Kendra remained standing by the door and listened silently to the exchange. She hadn't seen Giles this happy since they begun planning the Blood Banks downfall -- and that had not ended very well. When she had come along after Buffy's demise, he had been reserved and detached. She would not have noticed the subtle changes to his attitude had Xander and Willow not pointed them out to her. And now Buffy was here again, and he was smiling and welcoming her. She understood why he was acting that way, but Kendra could not help feeling a little stir of jealousy.

"You will have to tell me everything about your world," Giles enthused. "The differences must be amazing. I've been trying to find out how it's possible for you to be here, but so far, I haven't been able to find anything useful."

Kendra voiced the question that Buffy had wanted to ask. "How is it that you know about her situation?"

Giles looked at his Slayer, remembering that she was in the room. He thought it fortunate that Kendra had found Buffy; he shuddered to think what would have happened had Sunnyhell's collection of more unsavory characters come across her first. Before he could respond, the phone on his table rang shrilly. He picked it up, but the caller spoke before he could get a word out. It was a couple of minutes before he set it back in its cradle and said, "That was Doyle. We have a problem."

_Sunnydale _

"It's all over the news! I can't believe you haven't seen it…" Cordelia paused and corrected herself as she spoke on the phone to Giles. "Wait a second -- how stupid of me -- you'd have to actually own a TV to know what's going on right now in the outside world."

"Cordelia, I assure you that I do have a TV. I just don't watch it every minute of the day." He did not mention the fact that, in his opinion, no person in their right mind would be watching the TV at such an early hour anyway. He was too tired to argue; then again, it was rather pointless arguing with Cordelia no matter what the time.

She continued on, chiding him in the manner of an adult trying to get something through to a child. "Well, those books can't tell you everything – now turn on the TV. It doesn't matter what channel it's on -- everyone's showing the same thing…" Without giving him a chance to follow her instructions, she hurried on with her briefing on the recent events in Los Angeles. "It only happened a little while ago, but something like this(,) and everyone is trying to get a piece of the action."

Cordelia had called him a few minutes ago. Ten minutes before that some official from the prison had contacted Angel. After apologising for waking him up at that hour -- like he was sleeping anyway -- he had proceeded to tell the vampire with a soul, about Faith's inexplicable disappearance.

Angel thought he could get to the bottom of it with, although he did not tell the caller that. He had thanked the other man for giving him the heads up and gathered the troops together. Gunn and Wesley had set off in search of the hotspots where Faith may have escaped to while Fred dove into research mode. Angel decided that pooling his and the Scoobies resource was a faster and more effective way of finding the once-again rogue Slayer. They would probably appreciate the advanced warning should she head back to Sunnydale, though that was unlikely in Angel's opinion.

Cordelia hushed up and passed the phone to her friend and boss, who was hovering close by and insisting she let him speak. "Giles, I don't think this is her doing. It wouldn't take somebody very powerful to open a portal of the size that was described, but Faith doesn't know magic."

'She might have had outside help," the Watcher included wearily, not wanting to rule anything out. There wasn't much brewing in Sunnydale as of late, but they could always do without having to deal with the troublesome Slayer. He poured boiling water into the drink he had been making in the hope that it would further serve to wake him.

"I don't see how; she hasn't had any visitors -- I checked -- and anybody teleporting in would've been seen." He knew it was possible really, but Angel just didn't want to believe that Faith had been planning escape, perhaps even as she told him that things were getting better. He felt a little guilty that his visits had stopped so suddenly; maybe she had decided to get out of prison somehow once he stopped checking up on her. She was capable of it, but magically capable? He didn't know how she could have contacted anyone from prison to help her, unless it was another contingency plan of the Mayor. There were too many unknowns.

"Anything is possible," Giles padded to the door as an insistent knocking drew his attention from the phone.

Angel could not hear any individual words through the phone as the voices were muffled; he discerned that there were three people, and they spoke with a sense of urgency. He knew instinctively that whatever was happening, it was connected to Faith's disappearance. "Cordelia, Fred, we're going to Sunnydale," he announced before Giles even informed him of the update that Willow, Xander, and Anya had brought.

"Buffy's gone, too." Now the Watcher sounded really worried.

_Sunnyhell _

The Whitehat van drove out again that night, though this time took a much smoother ride with Giles behind the wheel. The only other human in the group joined the ex-librarian in the front while Buffy, Kendra, and Oz piled in the back. The drive would be short, but Buffy figured that would be time enough for a short round of twenty questions. It irked her that Faith was free; she was in another reality and now she had to deal with her bad counterpart? And she was already causing trouble!

She saw the younger woman as her responsibility seeing as they were both from the same world. Buffy knew Faith better, and what she was capable of -- though the other Slayer always had some surprises up her sleeve. "So what did she tell you?" The question was directed at Oz since he was the only one present that had had contact with her.

"Not much," he answered, thinking back. Buffy looked frustrated; now was not the time for vagueness. "We found her when she was taking out a group of demons. They had some old guy locked in a cage(,) and she was trying to save him--."

With her eyebrows raised and her eyes widened, Buffy looked highly dubious. "She saved him? Willingly?"

Oz nodded, while at the same time Kendra voiced her confusion at why that was such a big deal. "That's what we are supposed to do -- slay the demons and the vampires and help people," she said as though Buffy needed reminding.

"Yeah, well, Faith doesn't do what we're expected to do." Buffy wasn't too keen to dredge up the past. Yet.

"She told Giles how she came to be here and then left with Doyle," The van stopped." Guess we're here."

* * *

Things had not gone as Faith expected, as if they ever did. The vampires, it turned out, had been waiting for her arrival thanks to the supposed helpless old man. She had entered through the back door earlier - or rather broken through it. The nearby area had been suspiciously devoid of the undead, and she had known instinctively that she was about to walk into a trap; nevertheless she was drawn further inside. Vampires had moved apart as she walked deeper into the building, as if she were royalty.

In the center where tables and chairs had once been was now a long machine with spiky points. Faith would have wondered what it was had she not seen the young girl laid upon it in the process of being drained. Blood sped smoothly along the transparent tubes that wound around and were fed into cylindrical tanks. Vampires stood around the edges and yet more above her on the balcony and metallic winding stairs. They eyed her hungrily and licked their lips in anticipation. There were cages too, but these were open and nobody was held within.

Faith's limbs ignored her commands to stop and leave as a hypnotizing voice inside her head pulled her forward, almost lulling her to sleep. She barely even remembered getting from the door to the stage as she halted before it. Small red eyes in a pale wrinkled face stared back at her in a calculating manner; her eyes followed his hand as it came towards her. The Master moved a bony finger, indicating for her to come forward. In the distance she heard faint music, a piano and violin; it only served to make the situation more haunting. A crazed giggling sounded next to her and immediately the voice she had heard in her head -- she heard with her ears instead. "Silence!" he was ordering.

Faith heard a feminine English accent reply sulkily, "You promised I could have our guest." She paused momentarily as she climbed the stairs to the stage. "Yet now you take her for your own," she added in an accusatory tone.

"Drusilla…" the Master answered in a singsong tone. "That was before I learned this one was special…"

The crowd parted as Drusilla sauntered through them. "Ooh, but it's been so long since I tasted a Slayer," Hearing her say that got the roomful of vampires a little more active. They didn't want to wait their turn anymore. "It would only be fair if we all joined in…" The vampires followed the Master loyally, but Drusilla knew that in a moment such as this, with a prize like the Slayer for the taking, they would charge and fight him. Most would be dust, but that would not stop them from trying. "We all want some," she hinted with a chuckle.

The Master sighed dramatically, and his arm dropped away from her neck to his side. "Take her!" he ordered and relished the cheers that followed his command. He leaned toward the old man, his trusted spy. "I want you to find out how she got here. And how to find more."

The old man nodded and watched Drusilla clapping her hands in delight as two vampires flanked Faith and another pulled her towards the instrument. The Master relinquished his hold on her; it would be no fun if he just allowed her to be bled. He hoped the Slayer put on a show; things were so boring of late. There were no challenges anymore, except for the Whitehats and the Initiative. The only problem was that most of them were human, and they were so easy for him to overcome.

A vampire cried out as a bone snapped, rudely interrupting his plotting. _They are so weak, _he thought of the newest vampires that had joined him. In fact, most of them were not worthy of the gift the older ones gave them; he needed them to be stronger.

Drusilla stepped back as a relatively new vampire dropped at her feet. She nudged his hand with a heeled red shoe, and he exploded into dust. Faith was mad; she hadn't taken into account that the oldest… and ugliest vampire could take control of her like that. Buffy had forgotten to mention that part, or maybe Faith hadn't listened enough. She threw another vampire onto one of the other metal 'beds' and rammed his neck onto one of the metal spikes. It wouldn't kill him, but it'd sure hurt like hell.

* * *

The vampire that guarded the back door didn't even hear Doyle creep up behind him. By the time he saw him, it was already too late, and only a cloud of dust remained. "This is a very bad idea," Doyle muttered to himself as he peered around the corner to see another vampire soar through the air. He hazarded a step forward and ducked down, but there was no way he could go in there; he wouldn't make it three paces before he was dead meat.

"You're right," A hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back. "You going in there is a bad idea."

If Doyle had a chance, he would have jumped at the surprise intrusion; his heart did it for him instead. He looked at the blonde haired woman that had pulled him out of the Blood Bank. "Buffy?" He couldn't be sure because he had only seen her a couple of times way back when Angel was watching her before everything went to hell.

"How about we leave the introductions 'til later," Kendra stated, and ignored the two as she got right down to business. "What happened?"

Doyle waved his arm in the general direction of the Blood Bank. "Some old guy disappeared, and she followed him here -- now she's in there! The whole family's inside -- she doesn't stand a chance."

"She's probably right at home," Buffy commented icily and ignored their questioning looks at her remark. "So what's the plan?" She turned to Kendra. It was strange for her to be asking the other Slayer back, she wasn't used to it. Usually she was the one leading but this time she knew that Kendra held that position more than her.

A furious scream stopped any further conversation, and as one they ventured closer to the still open door. "Find her!" the Master yelled at them.

It sounded to them like Faith was becoming quite adept at disappearing.


	5. Fight Club

**Chapter Five**

One day Faith was going to think before she ran into an impossible to win situation, though for that to happen she had to survive this first. The vamps were trying to corner her as they advanced in a semi circle around her and forced her back. None of them charged forward to take her; it was a waste of time as in such close quarters there would be no fight merely shoving and pushing. They wanted to see a fight and for that to happen they would trap her and make her fight later on in the ring. It was one of the ways the vampires loved to pass the time. Stick a person in a cage and watch them fight for their life. It was Drusilla that had suggested it during one of her semi sane moments. The ring had been rather empty of late and a Slayer would put on a brilliant performance for them.

She knew that the cages were coming up behind her and that once she felt the cold metal bars it would be over. There was barely enough space to breath let alone fend off the bloody thirsty fanged undead that were looking at her like she was the main meal of the day. Faith chanced a look behind her to see the first cage was only six feet away, she looked left and right and to each side more vampires closed in with a look of triumph already lighting up their eyes. Running straight through them was out of the question; the Blood Bank was full of them. She was all about going against the odds but this was ridiculous.

The Slayer noticed then that the roof of the cages didn't reach very high. The height would not enable any tall inhabitants to stand to their full height; it would be near impossible to stretch or move around very much, effectively stopping any attempted escape. Bad for them but good for her. Any normal person would have difficulty jumping the height good job she wasn't classified as normal. As if sensing what Faith was planning Drusilla's smirking grin quickly fell to one of annoyance. The Master saw it too "take her! Take her now!"

The first three vampires raced forward, which considering the small space was a little difficult, the closest one Faith grabbed by the scruff of his collar and threw him into the hungry fray. He was unable to change his course in mid air and he knocked the closest of his comrades to the floor like a bowling ball and pins. She took two steps and launched herself into the air, and the metal clanged under her boots. Directly above was the balcony and even as her right hand grasped a vertical bar to heave herself over the vampires ran up the winding stairs to reach her. She spun around, her foot connecting with a vampires face when he got too close, Faith grinned in satisfaction when she heard the crack of his busted jaw before he topped to the ground below. She made to run to the right when another vamp landed on the balcony, making it clatter under his weight. He had taken the same quicke to the balcony as her; he leered and sauntered towards her. Another came from the right, trying to block her way should she decide to take that direction instead. He spun the stake she had lost earlier in his short and stubby fingers. He was way too confident for her liking.

He chuckled cockily as he made his way towards her. As if coming to a silent agreement the two vampires rushed her from both sides. She jumped the couple of feet that made up the width of the black balcony and balanced on the thin rail for a second before spinning to the right, her leg connected with the back of the cocky vampire and the force propelled him forward. He fell headlong into the oncoming vamp and they landed in a tangle of arms, legs and coats. The arrogant vampire was unfortunate enough to be the one that caught the business end of Faith's lost stake. She picked it and the vampire up and chucked the latter through the window, he shattered the glass, and left it open for her to jump through.

"Find her!" the Master screamed at them. That was the last she heard of him.

* * *

Jagged shards of glass accompanied the vampire as he slammed against the pavement, being thrown out of the window didn't give him time to land in a better position other than flat on his face. He pushed himself up and fell back on his stomach, his nose was bloodied and eyes showed how dazed he was due to the fall. Faith landed awkwardly on her feet but was still stood before her opponent, before he had time to recuperate further she staked him. Looking up at the broken window she saw two other vampires gazing down at her and debating whether or not to take that, quicker route, to reach her. They decided against it though and ducked back inside. It would not take long for them to find her, she surveyed the area and made to take off when she remembered Doyle "damn" this was so much easier when there was no sidekick.

* * *

The makeshift team of Buffy, Kendra, Giles, Larry, Oz and the newly found Doyle split up. It would be faster finding out what had become of Faith that way; it was decided that the two Slayers would venture into the building to check if she was still inside while Larry and Oz checked the others exits and Giles and Doyle skirted the perimeter. The Watcher also wanted a chance to explain to the half demon why exactly he should not have allowed Faith to run off. Not that he had a choice in the matter. A member of the Initiative had equipped them with walkie talkies a while ago and never took them back; it was these that the group used now to remain in contact with one another.

They separated, each going about their designated tasks. Buffy and Kendra tiptoed back through the side door they had found Doyle at a few minutes before and peered around the boxes that were stacked high against the wall. "I can't see her" Buffy whispered "I guess she really did disappear" she had half believed the Master had shouted that as a trick to get them to come closer to find out for themselves what had happened.

"We can't get too close, the Master will know..." Kendra pointed to the stage where the ancient vampire was still stood, watching his flock intently. "Your friend isn't here" she observed and moved backwards, not wanting to turn her back on the wide open, enemy filled room.

"Yeah...maybe one of the others had better luck" she turned to follow Kendra when she heard a familiar voice whisper words she never thought she would hear coming from that person. Buffy froze and listened.

* * *

"Bored now. I want to find want to find the Slayer and watch her play with the others in the ring" a leather clad vampire climbed the steps at the side of the platform and stood beside her boss, sulking slightly. "I never get to have any fun anymore."

"Now, now Willow, your time will come" the Master soothed and pout his arm around her shoulders and pointed to the busy little vampires below them. "Look how they rush around searching for a mere human, it's obvious she is no longer here yet still they remain here," he sounded disappointed. "They know they could never find her outside so they stay here and look busy."

"I could find her," Willow sounded so certain and it brought a smile to the Masters wrinkled pale face. "And I'd make her pay for running, for making us look so stupid. Let me find her..."

"Yes, lets" Drusilla chimed in from nearby; she stood at the side by the long red velvet curtains. She wrapped it around her and partly hid her face behind the thick and heavy material "she can hide, but we will find her. I see her now, she searches for her friend" she giggled "but she doesn't know where to look."

Willow moved along the stage, her heeled boots clanking on the wood. She took Drusilla by the hand and they jumped off the stage. "We're going now" she beamed.

"Our little friend doesn't like it here but she still wants to stay. I think we should help her make a decision!" the Master watched them go; they would find the missing Slayer he knew.

"What are you waiting for?" Kendra's voice broke through Buffy's thoughts.

"Nothing, I was just coming" a startled Buffy replied. Seeing Willow as a vampire, it made her sick to her stomach. She had to get out of there now. She inwardly cursed whomever the heck it was that had brought her here to this twisted world in the first place.

* * *

Seeing the van across the road, parked outside yet another broken up shop, Faith headed over to it. She recognised it, as the Whitehats van, staying there and waiting seemed a better decision that wandering aimlessly. They had to return there eventually, she didn't think whoever had come to aid Doyle would spend a lot of time searching for her. She did not have to wait too long, Giles and Doyle found her sitting cross-legged near the doors to the back of the van, hearing them come to a stop she looked up at them "see, nothing to worry about."

Giles looked extremely relieved to see her alive. He came forward and then back again, a look of doubt coloured his face. "Just a precaution" the Watcher explained before he took the cross he carried out of his pocket and held it close to her. Faith looked merely amused. "Can never be too careful. I'm glad you're alive --."

"We heard the Master inside. We thought he had you" Doyle was stuck between being angry and happy to see she wasn't vamp food. "Everyone's out searching for you." Giles stepped away from them while he contacted the remaining two groups on the radio. "What happened?" the half demon sat on the edge of floor of the van. He wanted news and rolled his eyes when Faith just shrugged. "Not much of a talker, huh?"

"Got nothing to say. I went in, fought a few of the bad guys and got back out" she spread her arms out, a smug smile on her face. "And here I am, still breathing."

"I never said you couldn't take care of yourself. There was just more of them than there were of you" Doyle seemed to be needlessly worried, she wondered if it had become a habit, through seeing so many of his friends or comrades killed. "There was no sign of the old man, either. A few of the Initiative soldiers are out searching though. Shouldn't be too hard, at this time we don't get many regular people wandering around. Could prove hazardous to their health" he gave a wry grin.

Giles turned back to them and pocketed the radio. "The others are on their way back. It appears the Master had vampires looking for you" his forehead creased into a frown. The last thing they needed was for the vampires to actually look for them instead of getting in their way only when they had to.

"Well, been on the vamp hit list before" Faith nonchalantly replied. "It's nothing new for me. I'm gonna get gone anyway, got a few things to do..." she jumped down from the van and started to walk away from them both. Truth was, she didn't want to get close to these people. It bad enough she knew some of them in her world, she didn't want to talk to their replicas. The other guys, she knew how they felt about her. These versions she didn't.

"Well.... wait...you can't just leave" Giles protested. "We need your help. Both you and Buffy can aid our cause – to having three Slayers that are perfectly trained...well it could seriously undermine the power the vampires and the demons have over Sunnyhell --." Giles did not notice that Faith had stopped when he was in mid speech, and he carried on anxiously, trying to persuade her to remain. "I don't know how you came to be here or why but this may, quite possibly be a sign that the tide will change in our favour now. And if not, well, we can seize this opportunity before it disappears again."

Faith spoke in a quite voice. Sensing the change Doyle enquired as to what was the matter. "Not that we're trying to put too much pressure on you both" he joked

"Buffy is here? I thought you said she was dead" she was beginning to get the feeling that this little trip wasn't going to be a bed of roses.

Giles interrupted and stopped beside the two of them. "Our Buffy is. We assumed the one that's here is the same one that you spoke of."

"Judging from your reaction I'm guessing she is. And you two aren't exactly the best of friends?" Doyle assumed.

Faith smirked and shrugged in a 'don't care' attitude. "Nothing like a little friendly rivalry between Slayers." Doyle was not buying it, and neither was Giles. The last thing he wanted was for the two new Slayers to be unable to work with one another. It would make things truly difficult.

"I'm gonna make tracks" Faith announced and started off again. "I'll catch you guys later" Doyle dragged alongside her.

"Before you go, there's something I want you to try and do" he told her ominously. Interest piqued, Faith nodded and followed him as he led her away from the Blood Bank, the van and the incoming Buffy. Giles sat in the vehicle to wait. He just hoped what Doyle was doing would work out fine.

A couple of minutes later the rest of the gang arrived. Buffy looked around, obviously searching for the missing Slayer. She looked worried upon seeing she and Doyle were missing. Buffy did not want to take any chances where Faith was concerned; she did not want her alone with anyone on the side of good. "Faith will be along later," he told her knowingly. "She and Doyle left to pay someone a visit. In your world, you must have had a friend called Xander, yes?"


	6. Authors Note

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**Authors Note**

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I know that it's been such a long time since I last updated, I'm hoping to get another chapter up soon. For now though I'm reposting the previous 5 chapters, which are now fully beta-ed, and any spelling/grammatical errors have been sorted out, thanks to my new beta Aithril.

I also want to thank _Darkstar Rain, Karmawiccan, FoxyRoxy514, RainyDaySunlight, lil badass, goddessa 39, and WingDing 9 _for reading, and taking the time to review the chapters so far.

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**Karmawiccan: **Not sure about the Spike/Willow, Sire/Childe thing yet; something to think on though.

**Goddessa 39: **I won't be turning any of the slayers, at least not in _this _reality. And it will be Angel that makes an appearance, not Angeles, so don't worry about that ;)

**RainyDaySunlight: **Faith and Buffy will meet again… eventually :P

_Maria._


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